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Castor biofuel a promising candidate for aviation services

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Evogene Ltd, an US based agri-biotech company has announced that castor plant proves to be viable alternate source for the production of biofuel(referred to as biojet) for the aviation services in the future.In a colloborative project work with NASA and Honeywell’s UOP technology, Evogene has made an evaluation of biojet produced from its castor varieties and reports that the oil has satisfied the fuel specifications of  ASTM D7566.It has declared that improved analytical tests will be conducted by NASA and US Air Force Research Laboratory further and points that the fuel from Castor would reduce green house gas emissions by 90% in comparison to fossil fuels.In the Castor Development Programme, the firm has decided to sell its product at US$ 45/Barell in future.

Castor plant designed for biolubricant production in progress

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Spanish scientists led by Federico García Maroto from the University of Almeria have reported that genes associated with bio synthesis of key fatty acids in Castor are identified whose products indirectly would serve as bio-lubricants for the locomotive engines.In addition, they have trapped some regulatory genetic elements referred to as “Promoters” that drive the expression of potent, fatty acid synthesizing genes for bio- lubricant production in Castor system.However, researchers conducted their preliminary experimental studies in model system,Tobacco and obtained promising results through a controlled expression of genes in Tobacco under the influence of their test promoters.They believe that the experiment would be feasible in Castor as well and say the overall objective of this collaborative research work is to generate a castor plant which would act as a bio factory for the synthesis of environmentally compatible, functionally effective lubricants.

For a detailed reference: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090625074514.htm

First Tetraploid Castor Plant from Israeli Firm, Kaiima

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Scientists from an Israeli seed company,Kaiima have produced the world’s first tetraploid castor plant with the objective of improving multiple traits in diploid castor including oil content for biofuel production, photosynthetic efficiency and better adaption to local field conditions.Reports say that the firm has followed an unique biotechnological technique called “Clean Genome Manipulation”(CGM) to achieve chromosomal doubling instead of a routine colchicine treatment  which seems to be associated with induction of DNA lesions in plants where the genome is manipulated by exact multiples of the basic chromosome number.The producers further believe that the plant would revolutionize the biofuel production through increased yield after a successful evaluation of field trials.In addition, the castor plant produced is not a Genetically Modified Plant says the product manager of Kaiima, Ariel Krolzig.

Further info: http://bit.ly/fJYLf5

Hike in prices of castor seed and oil

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Castor seed(Bold type) and oil prices in the market continue to remain high as a result of reduction in supply and a mounting demand from the oil and seed exporters.Seed prices jumped by Rs:100 to Rs:5700 from the previous day close of Rs:5600 while the commercial grade Castor oil surged slightly by Rs:20 from Rs:1150 to Rs:1170 per 10 kg.A volatility in the prices of Castor seed for the month of March was noticed.

Further Info: http://bit.ly/eZ79mV

Castor seed’s market value declines further

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The drop in castor seed prices still continues to make news in blog following the previous blog entry. Poor export enquiries is seen as the reason for the decline in future of castor seed in the oil and oilseeds market. Though castor seed price is on the decline, castor oil commercial and linseed oil traded stable in even in the absence of market moving factors.

Castorseed price declined Rs. 20 per tonne to Rs. 4375. Refined palmolein moved down slightly to Rs. 585. Groundnut oil held steady at Rs. 760 for 10 kg. Castorseed bold, castor oil commercial and linseed oil ended unchanged at Rs. 5,300, Rs. 1,090 and Rs. 710 respectively.

Castor Seeds – Prices drop

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Castorseed futures prices fell by Rs.83 to Rs.4,545 per quintal. This is due to the increased supply in the market and lower industrial demand.

At the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, castorseed price for the month of February dropped down by Rs. 83 to Rs.4,545 per quintal, with an open interest of 7,370 lots. Near March-month delivery contract also fell by Rs 70, or 1.61 percent, to Rs 4,277 per quintal, with an open interest of 5,770 lots.

Information obtained from  – http://goo.gl/BJzzp

Castor Oil Derivatives for Agrochemicals

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Etocas and Croduret (trade names) are vegetable-derived nonionic surfactants which find widespread use in agrochemicals as general emulsifiers and solubilisers. They are of particular value as biodegradable, sustainable alternatives to nonyl phenol ethoxylates. Etocas and Croduret , both   marketed by Croda,  are ethoxylated castor oil and ethoxylated hydrogenated castor oil respectively.

The emulsion characteristics judged were

1. Ease of dispersion of the surfactant/solvent mixture in water at 25ºC

2. The particle size of the resulting emulsion

Lower molar ethoxylates of castor oil are used as dispersing agents for oil based systems. They  are generally considered to present no special hazards. However, as with other nonionic surface active agents of this type, they may be irritating to the eyes as supplied.

More from here: http://www.chservice.ru/download/Etocas%20and%20Croduret.pdf

Rheological Behavior of Castor Oil Biodiesel

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From the ACS Publications – Energy Fuels, 2005, 19 (5), pp 2185–2188
Abstract
Viscosity, the measurement of the internal flow resistance of a liquid, constitutes an intrinsic property of vegetable oils. It is of remarkable influence in the mechanism of atomization of the fuel spray, in other words, in the operation of the injection system. This property is also reflected in the combustion process, whose efficiency depends the maximum power developed by the engine. This work aims at assessing the rheological behavior of castor oil, castor oil biodiesel, and undegraded and degraded biodiesel at different exposure times and temperatures. Castor oil biodiesel presents viscosity higher than diesel oil, but this drawback can be corrected by means of blends of both components at different proportions. The viscosity data indicated that the heat treatment leads to a degradation of the samples accompanied by an increase of the viscosity, probably because of interactions with intermediary compounds. The degraded samples presented a pseudoplastic behavior, once the flow index, m, is smaller than 1.

Thermoanalytical Characterization of Castor Oil Biodiesel – A Research Project

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See details of a project on ”  Thermoanalytical Characterization of Castor Oil Biodiesel” presented at ScienceDirect in Nov 2005

By: Marta M. Conceição, Roberlúcia A. Candeia, Fernando C. Silva, Aline F. Bezerra, Valter J. Fernandes, Jr. and Antonio G.Souza
Abstract
The castor oil seed has 47–49% of oil. Biodiesel obtained from castor oil has a lower cost compared to the ones obtained from other oils, as due its solvability in alcohol transesterification occurs without heating. The use of biodiesel will allow a reduction on the consumption of petroleum-derived fuels minimizing the harmful effects on the environment. This work wants to provide a thermoanalytical and physical-chemistry characterization of castor oil and biodiesel. Biodiesel was obtained with methyl alcohol and characterized through several techniques. Gas chromatography indicated methyl ester content of 97.7%. The volatilization of biodiesel starts and finishes under inferior temperatures than the beginning and final volatilization temperatures of castor oil. Biodiesel data are very close to the volatilization temperatures of conventional diesel.

Increase in Freight Rate Will Make the Castor De-oiled Cake Production Unviable?

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In India, the ministry under Mamata Banerjee has re-classified de-oiled cakes and oil meals from Class 110 to Class 120, effective December 27,2010 which will entail a freight rate increase between 11 and 13 per cent. Since oil cake and meals are used effectively as high nutrient bird and animal feeds, the rise in raw material prices will be passed on to consumers.

Solvent Extractors Association (SEA), in a memorandum to the railways minister and chairman of the Railway Board as well as secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, Animal Husbandry and Finance, highlighted that de-oiled cakes were locally produced, traded and occasionally exported on wafer-thin margins. This increase in freight rate would make the production of de-oiled cakes unviable thereby forcing many processing plants to decrease their production and thereafter leading to
shutdown.
De-oiled cakes end-use is in manufacture of compound feeds for cattle, poultry and aqua and also as natural fertilisers and hence such a large increase in freight would place great constraint on the viability of dairy and food industry as well as on the farmers. Also, exports of de-oiled cakes, which face stiff international competition from giants in the US and South America, will be adversely affected. In fact, to compete in the international market, the government has granted a 2 per cent incentive under the Focus Product Scheme for exports of some de-oiled cakes and 5 per cent under Vishesh Krishi Gram Upaj Yojana for castor de-oiled cake. The hike in freight will totally nullify the benefit granted to the exporters of de-oiled cakes and would place them at a great disadvantage.

More from here: http://www.sify.com/finance/high-protein-food-may-become-10-costlier-on-higher-freight-rate-news-news-lbecO7biibh.html